[82][83][84] According to historians John Cimprich and Bruce Tap, although their numbers were roughly equal, two-thirds of the black U.S. Army soldiers were killed, while only a third of the whites were killed. Many in the United States, including President Grant, backed the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave voting rights to Americans regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". Either could have been the officer in charge of the event Lucius recalls in The Reivers - "legend to some people maybe. In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history",[5] troops under Forrest's command at the Battle of Fort Pillow massacred hundreds of troops, composed of black soldiers and white Tennessean Southern Unionists fighting for the United States, who had already surrendered. [157] According to Wills, in the August 1867 state elections the Klan was relatively restrained in its actions. [203] The bust of Forrest was stolen from the cemetery monument in March 2012 and replaced in May 2015. [173] The Klan's violent tactics backfired, as Grant, whose slogan was "Let us have peace", won the election and Republicans gained a majority in Congress. The Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) and its partners have acquired and preserved 77 acres (0.31 km 2) of the Okolona battlefield. If you read Eddy W. Davison's "Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search of the Enigma," on page 464 and 474-475, you can see that Forrest not only publicly disavowed the KKK and worked to terminate it, but in August 1874, Forrest "volunteered to help 'exterminate' those men responsible for the continued violence against the blacks." After the murder of four blacks by a lynch mob after they were . [184][185], Just a few months before his death, Forrest attended an African-American barbecue in Memphis. Nathan Bedford Forrest War, Ku Klux Klan, League 168 Copy quote I loved the old government in 1861. [233], The site is now a Tennessee State Historic Park. [243] On March 10, 2012, it was vandalized, and the bronze bust of the general disappeared. 1 Review. Nathaniel Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821-October 29, 1877) was a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War. In 1869, Forrest expressed disillusionment with the lack of discipline in the white supremacist terrorist group across the South,[8] and issued a letter ordering the dissolution of the Ku Klux Klan as well as the destruction of its costumes; he then withdrew from the organization. The Civil War scholar Bruce Catton writes: Forrest used his horsemen as a modern general would use motorized infantry. Joint Resolution on the Subject of Retaliation", "KKK leader on specialty license plates? The oldest of 12 children, Nathan Bedford Forrest was born July 13, 1821, in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. [244] An online petition at Change.org asking the City Council to ban the monument collected 313,617 signatures by mid-September of the same year.[245]. All Previous Reports Fully Confirmed. Birth: 6 Jul 1801 in NC Death: 1837 in Salem,Tippah,MS PEDI: birth Father: Nathan Forrest b: 28 Oct 1776 in ,Orange,NC Mother: Nancy Shepherd Baugh b: 16 Apr 1778 in VA Marriage 1 Mariam Beck b: Abt 1801 in SC Married: 1820 in Gallatin,Bedford,TN Children 1. For this, he would later be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on March 2, 1865. Blood, human blood stood about in pools and brains could have been gathered up in any quantity. memorial page for Nathan Bedford Forrest (13 Jul 1821-29 Oct 1877), Find a Grave Memorial ID 355, citing National Confederate Museum at Elm . [182][183] The Macon Weekly Telegraph newspaper also condemned Forrest for his speech, describing the event as "the recent disgusting exhibition of himself at the negro jamboree" and quoting part of a Charlotte Observer article, which read "We have infinitely more respect for Longstreet, who fraternizes with negro men on public occasions, with the pay for the treason to his race in his pocket, than with Forrest and [General] Pillow, who equalize with the negro women, with only 'futures' in payment". Sister: Mildred Forrest (1831-1841) Brother: Bedford Forest (b. Pelican Publishing, Feb 28, 2007 - History - 560 pages. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In June 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and became one of the few soldiers during the war to enlist as a private and be promoted to general without any prior military training. Needing to make money to support his mother and siblings, Forrest went into business with his uncle, Jonathan Forrest, in . Bill Lee will no longer proclaim Nathan Bedford Forrest Day after legislature passes bill", "Memphis is digging up the remains of a Confederate general who led the early KKK", "Exclusive: Were General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife buried in Munford? and The Mansion ), none of the eleven fictions that mention . [218] U.S. Army General William Tecumseh Sherman called him "that devil Forrest" in wartime communications with Ulysses S. Grant and considered him "the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side".[219][220][4]. Forrest's responsibility for the massacre continues to be actively debated by historians.[6]. [249][250], As of 2019, Nathan Bedford Forrest Day was still observed in Tennessee, though some Democrats in the state had attempted to change the law, which required Tennessee's governor to sign a proclamation honoring the holiday. . Nathan Bedford Forrest In The Civil War Forrest volunteered as a private in the Confederate Army on June 14, 1861, but at the request of Tennessee's governor, Isham G. Harris, he raised and equipped an entire cavalry battalion at his own expense; the former private was made a lieutenant colonel. [234], Grant himself described Forrest as "a brave and intrepid cavalry general" while noting that Forrest sent a dispatch on the Fort Pillow Massacre "in which he left out the part which shocks humanity to read". Their great-grandfather, Shadrach Forrest, moved between 1730 and 1740 from Virginia to North Carolina, where his son and grandson were born; they moved to Tennessee in 1806. The poor deluded negroes would run up to our men fall upon their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down. On Tuesday, work began on exhuming the remains of General Nathan Bedford Forrest from Health Sciences Park. The day was worse for U.S. troops, who suffered 223 killed, 394 wounded, and 1,623 missing. People. [241] Barbour refused to denounce the honor. A successful cavalry commander during the Civil War noted for his tactics of mobile warfare,. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's polarizing presence has hung over Memphis since he moved here in 1852 his legacy cemented by a giant statue that loomed over. Born into a poor settler family, Nathan had a twin sister, Fanny. . A crowd gathers around the Nathan Bedford Forrest monument in Memphis' Forrest Park, 1906 Photo via Wikimedia Commons So, they're digging up old Nathan Bedford Forrest over in Memphis . [166] Forrest rode to the convention on a train that was stopped just outside of a small town along the way, when he was confronted by a well-known fighter shouting "d----d butcher" and wanting to "thrash" him. [43] In October 1861, Forrest was given command of a regiment, the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry. He used his cavalry troops as mounted infantry and often deployed artillery as the lead in battle, thus helping to "revolutionize cavalry tactics",[3] although the Confederate high command is seen by some commentators to have underappreciated his talents. [68] Gould shot Forrest in the hip, and Forrest mortally stabbed Gould. [193][194] The Sons of Confederate Veterans threatened a lawsuit against the city. [93] The rebels said the U.S. flag was still flying over the fort, which indicated that the force had not formally surrendered. Nearly ruined as the result of this failure, Forrest spent his final days running an eight-hundred-acre farm on land he leased on President's Island in the Mississippi River, where he and his wife lived in a log cabin. Local lawyer and radio host Rose Sanders said, "Glorifying Nathan B. Forrest here is like glorifying a Nazi in Germany. White Americans who made up the KKK hoped to persuade black voters that returning to their pre-war state of bondage was in their best interest. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years. A Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan 'Grand Wizard' has been exhumed and moved from a park where a statue of him once stood in Memphis, Tennessee. [147][148][149][150][151][152][153], Following the war, the United States Congress began passing the Reconstruction Acts to specify conditions for the readmission of former Confederate States to the United States,[154][155][156] including ratification of the Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments to the United States Constitution. [144] Another member wrote, "N. B. . Early Life. "Every moment lost is worth the life of a thousand men". Tom Hanks' title character in the film Forrest Gump remarks in one scene that his mother named him after Nathan Bedford Forrest and "we was related to him in some way". Morton. [140] The organization had grown to the point that an experienced commander was needed, and Forrest was well-suited to assume the role. "[167] Former Governor of New York Horatio Seymour was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, while Forrest's friend, Frank Blair, Jr. was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Seymour's running mate. Removing the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the capitol would move us a step closer toward ensuring that the history we choose to celebrate and honor in our public spaces reflects respect and . Although the KKK appears in several fictions (for example, Absalom! [256] After the Forrests' remains were removed from Memphis, they were reportedly buried in Munford, Tennessee[257] until their reburial in Columbia in September 2021 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.[258]. [80], On April 12, 1864, Forrest's men, under Brig. Forrest became involved sometime in late 1866 or early 1867. We chose General Forrest". Others have tried to remove Forrest's bust from the Tennessee House of Representatives chamber. Forrest continued to lead his men in small-scale operations, including the Battle of Dover and the Battle of Brentwood until April 1863. [217] Forrest fought by simple rules; he maintained that "war means fighting and fighting means killing" and the way to win was "to get there first with the most men". [56] In December 1862, Forrest's veteran troopers were reassigned by General Braxton Bragg to another officer against his protest. The Klan, with Forrest at the lead, suppressed the voting rights of blacks in the Southern United States through violence and intimidation during the elections of 1868. His father, a blacksmith, died and left young Forrest to fend for his six younger siblings and mother on their farm. Forrest was elevated in Memphiswhere he lived and diedto the status of folk hero. In Room 10 of the Maxwell, Forrest was sworn in as a member by John W. Streight's goal changed from dismantling the railroad to escaping the pursuit. Bedford Forrest, the great Confederate cavalry officer, died at 7:30 o'clock this evening at the residence of his brother, Col. Jesse Forrest. He married Mary Ann Montgomery on 25 September 1845, in Hernando, DeSoto, Mississippi, United States. Consequently, his role at Fort Pillow was a stigmatizing one for him the rest of his life, both professionally and personally,[229][230] and contributed to his business problems after the war. [122] A week later, General Robert E. 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